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The Murdock Papers
The Murdock Papers ''(originally conceived as ''Daredevil: The Man without Fear) is a fan-made game based on the Marvel Comics character Daredevil. Presumably developed by Insomniac Games, the game would be released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Inspired by the comic arc of the same name, the game details the life of Matt Murdock, a lawyer who, after being blinded in his youth but gaining enhanced senses, fights crime both in the courtroom in day and as a vigilante at night. Murdock has found himself with a streak of good luck recently, but soon gets pushed to the brink when his secret is revealed to the public. The Murdock Papers is a third person action-adventure game that allows players the chance to explore Hell's Kitchen, NYC as Daredevil. Daredevil must take on enemies with his martial arts skills and his trademark billy club. Interspersed throughout the action are legal court cases, stealth sections in Murdock's civilian and superhero garb, and investigative sections. Plot *Note that due to a lack of an existing script, the plot below will be a general overview. The life of Matt Murdock has been a troubled one: having grown up motherless, being blinded and losing his father at a young age, and his strenuous training with his mentor Stick. All these experiences and more have given Murdock a somewhat cynical and self-deprecating view on life. Coupled with the stress of his his secret identity, Murdock is a man struggling with very personal inner demons. However, it seems he's riding high in both his lives after both winning a battle victory over archenemy Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin & a case won jailing crucial members of Fisk's organization. Emboldened by the sudden stroke of good luck, Matt finds peace with legal partner and best friend Foggy Nelson (who worries over the risks Murdock must take as Daredevil and its potential impact on their practice) and even manages to start a relationship with Foggy and Nelson secretary Karen Page, who’s been working with his firm for a few years. On the other hand, Fisk's world is left in disarray by this defeat. Though he does care for his city, his means of improving it are less than ideal; and his recent defeat has left the authorities closer and closer to discovering his ill deeds. Forced to throw them off his scent by any means, Fisk comes into some information potentially revealing Daredevil's identity. After leaking this information to the press, Murdock's newfound joy and stability comes crashing down: cases jailing both allies of Fisk and his own foes are thrown out, his license to practice law is revoked, all his financial assets are frozen, Nelson and Murdock is closed down, enemy factions like the Hand gun for him & his loved ones, & the authorities seek to arrest him, throwing Hell’s Kitchen into chaos. Devastated by this turn of events, Murdock becomes increasingly unstable and aggressive to friend and enemy alike, all the while pushing all those close away. With his mind, body, and faith tested at every turn, Daredevil must pick himself back up from rock bottom. Eventually, he later discovers that Fisk was behind the attacks: angered and bitter, Murdock finds himself with a purpose for the first time since initially defeating Kingpin: take down Fisk, by any means necessary. However, Murdock later finds himself back on the right path and defeats Kingpin without taking his life. This victory is bittersweet however. Though he does beat Fisk, the authorities manage to find Daredevil standing over a bloody and brusied Fisk. Using his front as a benevolent businessman, Fisk convinces the FBI that Murdock came in to assault him. Arrested and put on trial, Matt is defended by Nelson with testimony from various civilians saved throughout the course of the story. Despite their best efforts, the game ends with Matt disbarred and arrested, while Fisk remains in the good graces of the city; a post-credits scene shows Matt being shipped off to Riker's Island and meeting his various rogues gallery of villains. Themes The Murdock Papers sees the title's character initially strong faith in God & the law continually tested & eventually broken. The events push him beyond his wit’s end: Fisk is leading a campaign against him, villains attack him at his home, & the stress makes him paranoid & aggressive to his friends & foes. Matt begins to quesion why God is doing this to him, and the effectiveness of the legal system. The game has the tone of a legal thriller, with court cases just as tense as the street fights. Gameplay Overview This game would be the cancelled PS2 Daredevil game, fully realized for current gen systems. Basically, there was a planned game set to be developed only to be canceled. There’s a phenomenal video by Unseen64 going in depth on the project, but basically, it was going to be an open-world, 3rd person action game set in Hell’s Kitchen. Players would engage in beat-’em-up combat while traversing the city; the radar sense would be used for combat & traversal. Everything you can find in that video I’d implement, but there are some points I’d go further in depth on. Locale The map for this game would use the exact same Hell’s Kitchen layout as in Marvel’s Spider-Man, down to the location of street lights. However, I’d add in some iconic Daredevil locations, like the Nelson & Murdock building & Clinton Church, as well as optimized verticality. Also, because the map for this game will be considerably smaller than the one for Spider-Man, the neighborhood should compensate in liveliness (denizens walking down the street, cars driving, trains running, etc). Traversal Matt can parkour like in Spider-Man PS4, but see this video for how acrobatics should look. A more subdued, realistic form of parkour is a nice fit for Matt. For running speed, imagine a pace similar to Catwoman in Arkham City. He can, as the video mentioned, grind along telephone wires & railings. Players could transition into grinding by running or vise versa. Finally, Daredevil can use his billy club to swing across the city. Like in Spider-Man 2, ray casting will be used to create swing points for your billy clubs; in addition, there will be a large amount of telephone poles & the like to also swing on. Stealth This video by TheRedVigilante gives really good ideas for stealth, so I want to credit him. Something important to add: all senses can be used: for example, using touch to detect changing air vibrations, taste to taste blood from wounds in the air, & smelling sweat off scared enemies. Building off hearing, players could hit their club against objects for echolocation. Regarding that video, watch the combat section for more enemy ideas. Combat Basically the same as in Spider-Man PS4, though there are some things I’d like to add. For one, I want to emphasize the human stakes of the game by having every fight be genuinely possible to lose; this reinforces that Matt isn’t super like other heroes. To this point, having him grow continually tired as fights goes on may be something to consider. I’d also like to take inspiration from beat ‘em ups like Streets of Rage in terms of enemy variety: because this will be a grounded game with grounded stakes & characters, the enemies will be reflections of that, using chains, bottles, & small guns; you could pick up, use, or even throw their items at enemies. Possible enemy types could include * Basic thugs * Bigger thugs who are strong but slow * Thugs with various guns * Those with melee weapons like knives, bottles, pipes and chains * FBI and police officers with machine guns * Hand ninjas with various weapons The radar sense will be used like in the video (detecting enemy emotions, strike injury points, avoid hidden enemies, dodging gunfire through noise); it’d also be used to aid in traversal. The billy club will be Matt’s main weapon, w/ its having various different weapon forms. You can switch between these weapon forms in a quick & efficient manner, but otherwise pure H2H combat is the default. Equipment The billy club, but with different forms. * Nunchucks-See Michelangelo’s action in TMNT 2012 for combat potential. * Single baton-can be thrown off surfaces to distract enemies or used as one blunt instrument. * Kusarigama form-see TMNT again, but imagine the club not having a blade. * Grappling hook, used to reach high places. Collectibles * Alternate costumes, unlocked by attaining enough experience & collectibles. Different suits grant different abilities. * Newspaper clippings, detailing Matt’s past exploits as a hero. * Legal documents, detailing his past legal cases. Other * Randomly generated crimes can be stopped for XP. * An experience system like the one from Marvel’s Spider-Man. * Players can switch between normal view & Matt’s senses on the fly, depending on what’s needed at the moment. * There will be some sporadic legal cases in which Foggy will defend you. While you’ll play as Foggy in Phoenix Wright-inspired cases, Matt will clandestinely gain evidence & uncover the conspiracy at night as Daredevil. Characters and Cast Matt Murdock/Daredevil Wilson Fisk/Kingpin Foggy Nelson Karen Page Category:Games